Why Thermal Testing?

It is well established that excessive junction temperatures in operating semiconductors cause premature device failures. The continuing trend toward higher semiconductor power-density has progressively reduced the margin between acceptable and unacceptable component cooling, thus making the job of the electronic packaging engineer more critical and difficult. Modern electronic cooling design-analysis demands increasingly more accurate data on the thermal characteristics of packaged semiconductors. Package development requires testing of new packages to guide the advanced design efforts. Manufacturers and end-users of semiconductor devices are using in-line production-screening to ensure quality thermal characteristics. Application engineers and system designers use component thermal testing to avoid the pitfalls of inadequate cooling and to ensure product reliability. Some of the areas of application include:

Component Manufacturer:

• Thermal characterization of new package designs
• Providing thermal application data to end-users via application data sheets
• Determination of ideal burn-in temperatures and power level
• Process-monitoring for die-attachment of selected production samples

Component User/OEM Manufacturer:

• Determination of correct package thermal resistances for new product designs
• Thermal performance evaluation of alternate components in product application
• Incoming inspection monitoring for die-attachment quality
• Determination of aging effects on thermal performance

Manufacturer of Electronics Packaging Products

• Direct demonstration of product thermal performance
• Comparison of alternate cooling enhancement products
• Direct testing of customer components to diagnosis cooling issues